Over two dozen students, staff and community members got their hands dirty and shoes muddy early Wednesday to kick start a new tree-planting initiative on the University of Guelph campus.
The goal is to plant 700 trees this week to help offset the carbon emissions related to the construction of the new 3,400-square-metre Lang Plaza in front of the Gordon S. Lang School of Business which features seating areas, a fire pit, a bio-infiltration garden and a water fountain named after former dean Julia
Christensen Hughes.
The event is sponsored by the Lang School in collaboration with the university's sustainability office and national charity Trees for Life.
“Our students are going to graduate from here with the unquestionable belief that they have the ability to positively impact society, environment and the economy. There's no trade offs, we can do all three," said Greg Bauer, associate dean of strategic partnerships at Lang School of Business and Economics.
The trees will be planted between the Lambton Hall student residence and Cutten Fields by U of G student volunteers, staff and community members throughout the week.
Currently the area is an open field of grass and naturalizing the area will help reduce mowing maintenance while enhancing biodiversity.
“I definitely wanted to get more involved this year,” said U of G student Emily Lusby, a third year animal biology student who volunteered her time early Wednesday to plant trees.
“This would be a great way to be able to leave a legacy, and also just help the environment a little bit more.”
MPP Mike Schreiner said planting trees is one of the best ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere and help us combat the climate crisis.
“Trees also are vital for helping us adapt to the climate crisis, filtering water, helping prevent soil erosion, helping to prevent and mitigate flooding. Trees also provide vital heat islands. As the planet warms, we saw how catastrophic that can be with the heatwave in the West Coast this summer, and how vital it is to have urban tree canopies to provide shade and cooling for people,” said Schreiner.
“All of us over the last 18 months, we've been through one of the most challenging times any generation can ever experience with a pandemic. And we know that trees in nature are vital for improving people's mental health and their personal resiliency.”
Trees for Life’s founder and president Mark Cullen said the organization is raising funds to plant millions of trees over the next 10 years to support Canada’s 2 Billion Tree Program.
“Every donation to Trees for Life will be matched and we'll complete our 2021 goal of raising over $1 million to support 30 tree planting projects this year,” said Cullen.
“We do this not for ourselves. We do this for our children. We do it for our grandchildren. We do it for generations of people, Canadians, that we will never meet,” said Cullen.
